Tomorrow is the inaugural event for Barack Obama. The expectations are so high that Obama will be the saviour of the global economic crisis, that I am beginning to wonder if indeed we have hit rock bottom yet, or will we see a bump up and then a crash down again, because no single man can be our saviour alone in this time of economic crisis.
One fear that I have is that the money being put into the system doesn’t help the companies which need credit to borrow to be able to invest. Without investment, jobs are lost. If Obama is going to put money into traditional infrastructure, it will create jobs in several months from now. Giving a small tax rebate to millions of americans will only go into paying down debt for most, and not really create an atmosphere of confidence in which companies rehire.
What we need is to invest in new industries, like renewables, and divest from old ones (like the automotive machine) with a measured approach that helps transfer jobs from one old industry into one new one. With methodical application of funds, we can create new jobs in new technologies in the same areas that are most likely to be hit by rising unemployment when we finally stop funding the old jobs which are no longer needed nor competitive on the global marketplace. We have automotive workers sitting playing cards in union halls being paid wages…why? These same workers could be retrained to work in new industries and this could liberate those old industries from the overpowering loads of the legacy deals signed with unions or the factories which no longer are competitive.
I just hope that we temper our expectations of this man and that he gets the right guidance to help the american (and thus global) economies going in the right direction. My belief is that we are in a recession for at least another 6 months before seeing hope of getting out…
Sass